Hong Kong International Dragonboat Festival 2015: Trip Report
Four Deas Divas (Ellen Davies, Judie Manns, Rhona Charron and Sandra Coulson) participated in their first International DragonBoating Event July 3-5th, 2015 at Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong (Kowloon Side). This is the last year that this festival will be held in the Victoria Harbour – it will move to be closer to the new Hong Kong airport on Lantau Island.
As no others from Abreast in A Boat Vancouver-based teams were attending, we connected with the Australian Dragons Abreast Canberra team as they needed additional paddlers. Our composite Hong Kong Aussie team was comprised of 9 members from Canberra, 5 from Wagga Wagga (Australia), 4 Canadians and 1 American (who had lived in Canberra for four years).
Stanley International Dragon Boat Championships in Stanley Main Beach
Aussie and Canadian DragonBoat Team on Stanley Beach
Judie, Ellen and Rhona arrived in Hong Kong a week early to acclimatize to the heat and humidity, so they were able to participate in the Sunlife Dragon Boating event which took place June 27th and 28th at Stanley Beach on Hong Kong side. Small boats were being raced for 250 Meters and we practiced in calm waters on the Saturday. The heat and humidity take some getting used to and the temperature that weekend was about 33° C (with humidity this was = to 43° C). We learned new language: Steer = Sweep, Let it run = steady. Hold the boat = stop.
Needless to say we were covered in sunscreen with frequent and long dips in the water. There was little shade and no breeze.
Only one 10 person boat was entered by the Australian team and they were pleased with their outcome as they practice in Australia on a lake!
Our hotel (Harbour Plaza Metropolis) was perfectly located – within walking distance to the regatta and our room views allowed us to watch the Victoria Harbour being transformed into a race course for the 3 day event.
Hong Kong International Dragonboat Festival July 2015
Ellen, Judie and Sandra from Deas Divas in Hong Kong
Victoria Harbour
Schedule of the Races were the following:
Friday July 3, 2015
Morning Opening Ceremony and Overseas Teams Practice Sessions
Race for Breast Cancer Survivors in the afternoon
250m Races in the Afternoon
Prize Ceremony
Saturday July 4, 2015
500m Races
Prize Ceremony
Sunday July 5, 2015
500m Races
Prize Ceremony
Celebration Dinner - 6:30 pm
Friday July 3rd
Small Boat (10s) races
We started the day with a practice in a regular long boat and experienced the very, very choppy harbour waters. As our combined crew paddled out to the start line for the first time we were battling to stay balanced and keep the boat from tipping. We reached the start line only to witness an earlier young ambitious crew who had tipped into the rough waters – new learnings – many team crew members DO NOT WEAR PFDs – they are not mandated!
Breast Cancer race – two heats
We were broken up into two small boats – one with 10 from Canberra, and the other with 8 (Canadians and Wagga Wagga were grouped together).
International Women’s
Only one crew from our team competed. This team included Judie as the lone Canadian representation. This crew did well and made it through to the finals (although did not place).
Breast cancer teams: UK Pink Champagne (2 teams), Singapore, Australia (2 teams), Hong Kong (2 teams) and Taipei.
Saturday July 4th
Regular boat races Women’s race
The first heat had some drama – we had started well and were well on our way when a boat to our right veered into our path and cut us off – our steer (sweep) yelled “HOLD THE BOAT”! – we all followed the command and we avoided a major crash as that boat continued to veer into another boat. After the initial shock of coming to a dead stop- we heard Paddles Up and away we went. Unfortunately our combined times put us lower in the ranking than we had hoped. The boat that veered off course was DQ’d in that race.
Our Canadian Flag
Deas Divas in Hong Kong - Ellen, Sandra, Judie & Rhona
The 2015 Hong Kong Dragonboat International Aussie Team - Aussies, Canadians and Yankee
Sunday July 5th
Regular Boat races International races
Participation was optional so fewer teams competed. In the Women’s category, there were only enough teams for one heat, so we raced in the morning and agreed to skip the next qualification race and all participate in the final later in the afternoon.
Celebration Dinner – Sunday night
This was a fun way to wind up the regatta. A traditional multi-course Chinese dinner, with music, dancing, traditional Taiwanese chanting and a fun dance performance by the Singapore Breast Cancer team. Teams were presented with a merit award Trophy – we brought one home for small boat in Breast Cancer race!
Celebration Dinner and Merit Award
Learnings:
International harbour water is very very tough to paddle in! Several times we paddled air!
We wore badges that were checked by many people, our names were always checked against a master list – seating in the boat had to remain as on the predetermined list – one reserve for the team
Scrutiny of the paddles for ICDF? Logo and measurements of the paddles were done and some logos add ons were covered over with black tape.
If too many logos or designs were on the paddles they were covered up with black tape
PFDs not mandatory (this bewildered us!)
Great to meet other international Breast Cancer teams as we shared commonality.